TW202019231A - Method for gathering small cells - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for gathering small cells is provided. The method gathers connections of the small cells which are applied for transmitting control packets by using an instruction gathering apparatus and provides at least two virtual cells to process the connections. When a user apparatus switches the small cell connected thereto, the instruction gathering apparatus also switches the virtual cells processing the instructions relating to the user apparatus. Furthermore, during the procedure of forwarding the packets, contents of the packets would be converted adequately.

Description

Method for aggregating small base stations

The present invention relates to a method for aggregating small base stations, and in particular to a method for aggregating small base stations using more than two virtual base stations.

As the type of network information changes, the use of media that requires larger data packets (such as video, games, and live streaming) is gradually increasing. This makes the network must be able to quickly handle handover operations and provide high-speed Data uplink and downlink (UL/DL). Compared with the original large-scale base station network architecture, the density of small base stations provides a relatively efficient and inexpensive solution to the above needs, and lays the foundation for the future of 5G.

The significant growth of the number of small base stations makes the core network have to establish more S1/NG connections to control the small base stations, and this will cause the core network hardware and software construction costs to rise significantly. For this reason, small cell gateways (Small Cell Gateways) have appeared on the market. Such small cell gateways can help gather the S1/NG connection interface of small cells, thereby reducing high-density networks (Ultra Dense Network) burden of the core network in the environment.

However, if you want to use the small base station gateway to collect the data packets received/sent by the user, the burden of the small base station gateway will become very large, which will make the small base station gateway The cost of building hardware and software has increased dramatically. Therefore, it will be the future development trend for small base station gateways to collect only control packets but not data packets. However, the currently used switching operations cannot be directly applied in this novel network architecture. Therefore, how to provide a perfect inter-element collaboration method in a network architecture that uses a small base station gateway and control packets and data packets are transmitted through different paths has become a subject that requires urgent research and processing.

In view of this, the present invention proposes a method for aggregating small base stations, which provides complete and effective communication between network elements in a network architecture that uses small base station gateways and control packets and data packets are transmitted through different paths Method, which enables collaboration between network elements to proceed normally.

From one perspective, the present invention proposes a method for aggregating small base stations, which is suitable for a transmission network composed of more than one user device, more than two small base stations, a command aggregation device, and a core network device In the road. The control packet between each small base station and the core network device is transmitted through the command aggregation device, and the data packet between the small base station and the core network device does not pass through the command aggregation device; In addition, more than two virtual base stations are provided in the command aggregation device; this method of aggregating small base stations includes: when one of the control packets is switched, the control packet indicates that the active user device is about to activate When switching between different small base stations, make the post-switch control packet after the switch notification control packet in the control packet and the pre-switch control packet before the switch notification control packet in the control packet, respectively, with different virtual bases The station is a delivery medium; where each virtual base station is independently connected to the core network device, so that the core network device handles the connection of each virtual base station in a manner that handles the connection of different base stations.

In one embodiment, the aforementioned virtual base station includes a first virtual base station and a second virtual base station, and the control packet includes consecutive first control packets, second control packets, and third control packets. When the second control packet indicates that the active user device is about to switch to a different small base station, the first control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station and the third control packet is transmitted through the second virtual base station, or the first A control packet is transmitted through the second virtual base station and a third control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station.

In one embodiment, the operations performed by the command aggregation device include: setting a first virtual base station code for the first virtual base station, and then expressing the first virtual base station code with the first virtual base station code and according to the first virtual base station code Establish a first core network connection between the base station and the core network device; set a second virtual base station code for the second virtual base station, and then represent the second virtual base station code with the second virtual base station code Establishing a second core network connection between the second virtual base station and the core network device; obtaining the core network code representing the core network device; and establishing a connection between the first small base station and the command aggregation device, The core network code represents the command aggregation device, and a connection is established between the command aggregation device and the first small base station.

In one embodiment, when the connection between the first small base station and the command aggregation device is established, the core network code represents the command aggregation device, and the step of establishing a connection between the command aggregation device and the first small base station is Including: the connection activation control packet received by the command aggregation device from the first small base station includes: the first base station code indicating the first small base station, and the first small base station used to indicate the base station of the active user device User device code; and the command aggregation device transmits the connection activation response packet to the first small base station in response to the aforementioned connection activation control packet, wherein the connection activation response packet includes: the base station user device code and the command aggregation device To represent the virtual user device code of the active user device.

In one embodiment, before the command aggregation device transmits the connection start response packet to the first small base station in response to the connection start control packet, the method further includes: replacing the content in the connection start control packet, including: filling in the original first The content at the base station code is changed to fill in the first virtual base station code, and the content at the base station user device code is replaced with the virtual user device code; the connection after the replacement content is transmitted by the first virtual base station Activate the control packet to the core network device; the core network device generates a core response packet in response to the connection activation control packet transmitted by the command aggregation device after the replacement content, where the core response packet includes the corresponding to the active user device The core user device code and the aforementioned virtual user device code; and causing the command aggregation device to receive the core response packet, and then modify the core response packet to the aforementioned connection activation response packet. Wherein, the modification of the core response packet to the connection start response packet includes: replacing the content of the virtual response device code filled in the core response packet with the base station user device code; and filling the core response device in the core response packet The content at the code is replaced with the virtual user device code.

In one embodiment, when the aforementioned pre-handover control packet is delivered via the first virtual base station, that is, the aforementioned handover notification control packet is delivered via the second virtual base station instead. Wherein, the aforementioned handover notification control packet is transmitted from the second small base station, which is one of the aforementioned small base stations, to the command aggregation device, and the handover notification packet includes: the aforementioned base station user device code, indicating this The second base station code of the two small base stations and the aforementioned virtual user device code.

In one embodiment, when the aforementioned pre-handover control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station, that is, the step of transmitting the aforementioned handover notification control packet through the second virtual base station includes: receiving at the command aggregation device After the handover notification control packet, the content of the received handover notification control packet is replaced; and the handover notification control packet with the replaced content is transferred to the core network device through the second virtual base station. Among them, replacing the content of the received switch notification control packet includes: replacing the content in the switch notification control packet where the virtual user device code was originally filled in with the core user device code; replacing the switch notification control packet with the original filling in the base The content at the station user device code is changed to fill in the virtual user device code; and the content at the switching notification control packet where the second base station code was originally filled is replaced with the second virtual base station code.

In one embodiment, the method of aggregating small base stations further includes: causing the core network device to receive the switching notification control packet with the content replaced, and correspondingly returning a switching confirmation packet, the switching confirmation packet includes the aforementioned virtual user device Code and a core user device code after switching; causing the command aggregation device to receive the switching confirmation packet from the core network device; replacing the content of the switching confirmation packet; and passing the switching confirmation packet with the changed content to the aforementioned second compact Base station. Among them, replacing the content of the switching confirmation packet includes: replacing the content in the switching confirmation packet where the virtual user device code was originally filled in with the base station user device code; and replacing the core switching user packet in the switching confirmation packet. The content of the code is replaced with the code of the virtual user device after switching.

From another perspective, the present invention provides a method for aggregating small base stations, which is suitable for transmission composed of more than one user device, more than two small base stations, a command aggregation device, and a core network device On the Internet. The control packet between each small base station and the core network device is transmitted through the command aggregation device, and the data packet between the small base station and the core network device does not pass through the command aggregation device; In addition, more than two virtual base stations are provided in the command aggregation device; the method for aggregating small base stations includes: making each virtual base station independently connect to a core network device; and, when activated, the user device When connecting to any small base station, use one of the virtual base stations to transfer control packets; when the active user device switches from the originally connected small base station to another small base station, it changes to another virtual base station. Taiwan passes control packets. Among them, the virtual base station first replaces the content related to the small base station in the control packet and before replacing the content with the corresponding content related to the virtual base station; and then passes the control packet with the replaced content to the core network Device.

In one embodiment, the aforementioned virtual base station includes a first virtual base station and a second virtual base station, and the operation performed by the command aggregation device includes: setting a first virtual base station code for the first virtual base station, and then The first virtual base station code represents the first virtual base station and accordingly establishes a first core network connection between the first virtual base station and the core network device; sets a second virtual base for the second virtual base station Station code, and then the second virtual base station code represents the second virtual base station and accordingly establishes a second core network connection between the second virtual base station and the core network device; obtaining the core representing the core network device Network code; and when the connection between the first small base station and the command aggregation device is established, the core network code represents the command aggregation device to establish a connection between the command aggregation device and the first small base station.

In one embodiment, when the connection between the first small base station and the command aggregation device is established, the core network code represents the command aggregation device, and the step of establishing a connection between the command aggregation device and the first small base station is Including: the connection activation control packet received by the command aggregation device from the first small base station includes: the first base station code indicating the first small base station and the first small base station to indicate the use of the base station of the active user device Device code; and the command aggregation device transmits the connection activation response packet to the first small base station in response to the connection activation control packet, wherein the connection activation response packet includes: the aforementioned base station user device code and the command aggregation device To represent the virtual user device code of the active user device.

In one embodiment, before the command aggregation device transmits the connection start response packet to the first small base station in response to the connection start control packet, the content in the connection start control packet is further replaced; the replacement is transmitted by the first virtual base station After the content, the connection activation control packet is sent to the core network device; the core network device generates a core response packet in response to the connection activation control packet transmitted by the command aggregation device after the replacement content, wherein the core response packet includes the corresponding use in activation The core user device code of the user device and the aforementioned virtual user device code; and, the command aggregation device receives the core response packet, and then modifies the received core response packet to the aforementioned connection activation response packet. Among them, when the content in the connection start control packet is replaced, it includes: replacing the content at the first base station code with the first virtual base station code; and, replacing the content at the base station user device code Change to filling in the virtual user device code. In addition, when the core response packet is modified to the connection activation response packet, it includes: replacing the content in the core response packet where the virtual user device code was originally filled with the base station user device code; and, the core response packet was originally filled in The content at the core user device code is replaced with the virtual user device code.

In one embodiment, when the pre-handover control packet is delivered via the first virtual base station, that is, the handover notification control packet is delivered via the second virtual base station instead. Wherein, the handover notification control packet is transmitted from the second small base station, which is one of the aforementioned small base stations, to the command aggregation device, and the handover notification packet includes: the base station user device code, the first indicating the second small base station Two base station codes and virtual user device codes.

In one embodiment, the aforementioned pre-handover control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station, that is, the step of transmitting the handover notification control packet through the second virtual base station includes: receiving the switch at the command aggregation device After notifying the control packet, the content of the received handover notification control packet is replaced; and the handover notification control packet with the replaced content is transferred to the core network device through the second virtual base station. Among them, replacing the content of the received switch notification control packet includes: replacing the content in the switch notification control packet where the virtual user device code was originally filled in with the core user device code; replacing the switch notification control packet with the original filling in the base The content at the station user device code is replaced by filling in the virtual user device code; and, the content at the switching notification control packet that was originally filled in the second base station code is replaced by filling in the second virtual base station code.

In one embodiment, the method for aggregating small base stations further includes: the core network device receives a switching notification control packet with changed content, and correspondingly returns a switching confirmation packet, and the switching confirmation packet includes a virtual user device code and switching The post-core user device code; the command aggregation device receives the handover confirmation packet from the core network device; replaces the content of the handover confirmation packet; and transmits the handover confirmation packet with the changed content to the second small base station. Among them, replacing the contents of the switch confirmation packet includes: replacing the content in the switch confirmation packet where the virtual user device code was originally filled in with the base station user device code; and, replacing the switch confirmation packet with the core use after switching The content at the user device code is replaced with the virtual user device code after switching.

In one embodiment, the foregoing step of replacing the content related to the small base station in the control packet and before replacing the content with the corresponding content related to the virtual base station includes: when the control packet includes before the content replacement When used to represent a base station code of a small base station, replace the content at the base station code with the virtual base station code representing the virtual base station; and, when the control packet includes the small base station before replacing the content When the base station user device code representing the active user device is used, the content originally filled in the base station user device code is replaced with a virtual user device code for filling in the command aggregation device to indicate the active user device.

In one embodiment, the method for aggregating small base stations further includes: causing the command aggregation device to transmit a response packet to the small base station in response to the control packet.

In one embodiment, the method for aggregating small base stations further includes: obtaining the aforementioned response packet by replacing the content of the core response packet received by the command aggregation device from the core network device.

In one embodiment, the foregoing response packet obtained by replacing the content of the core response packet received from the core network device by the command aggregation device includes: replacing the content related to the virtual base station in the core response packet with Corresponding content related to small base stations; and replacing content related to core network devices in the core response packet with corresponding content related to virtual base stations.

In one embodiment, the core response packet includes the core user device code corresponding to the active user device in the core network device, and the instruction aggregation device is used to represent the virtual user device code of the active user device. Furthermore, the content of the virtual response device code that was originally filled in the core response packet before the content replacement was replaced with the corresponding base station user device code; and, the core use of the core response packet before the content replacement was originally filled in The content at the user device code is replaced with the corresponding virtual user device code.

According to the above technology, the method for aggregating small base stations provided in the embodiments of the present invention also switches the virtual base station provided by the command aggregation device when the user device remains connected while switching the connected base station . If switching the connected base station is not through the switching command (for example: disconnect the line before reconnecting to another base station), then only need to follow the Figure 2, Figure 3A, Figure 3 when switching the connected base station 3B, the method shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be performed, and it is not necessary to switch the virtual base station. Furthermore, during the process of forwarding the packet to the base station or core network device by the virtual base station, the contents of the packet will be converted appropriately. In this way, the method for aggregating small base stations provided in this description can provide a complete and effective communication method between network elements, thereby enabling cooperation between network elements to proceed normally.

A small base station is a low-power wireless access node or base station that supports a relatively low power level, allowing mobile devices to gain access to the network when approaching the base station. In an environment of high density network (Ultra Dense Network), many small base stations and a relatively small number of core network devices are gathered together to provide network services for user devices near the small base stations. Since there must be a transmission path of network packets between each small base station and the core network device responsible for processing the data of this small base station, as the number of small base stations in a high-density network grows, it is connected to S1/NG connections on core network devices will also increase. In order to solve this problem, a small cell gateway (Small Cell Gateway) can be used to gather the S1/NG connection interface of the small cell, and then use the small cell gateway to connect to the core network device. This reduces the number of connections required by the core network device.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a network system using a small base station according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, multiple user devices (such as user device 100_m) can be connected to the network through the network system 10, and more than two small base stations (such as small Base station 120_x and small base station 120_y), a command aggregation device 140 and a core network device 160.

As shown in the figure, the user device 100_m and the small base station 120_x in this embodiment include a control packet connection 110c_mx and a data packet connection 110d_mx, and pass the control packet connection 110c_mx to transmit the control packet and pass The data packet connection 110d_mx is used to transfer the data packet; a control packet connection 130c_x is established between the small base station 120_x and the command aggregation device 140 to use the control packet connection 130c_x to transfer the control packet, and the small base station 120_x and the core network A data packet connection 130d_x is established between the devices 160 to transmit data packets using the data packet connection 130d_x; a control packet connection 130c_y is established between the small base station 120_y and the command aggregation device 140 to utilize the control packet connection 130c_y To transfer control packets, and a data packet connection 130d_y is established between the small base station 120_y and the core network device 160 to use the data packet connection 130d_y to transfer data packets.

Furthermore, the command aggregation device 140 provides two virtual base stations 1400 and 1402. A control packet connection 1400c is established between the virtual base station 1400 and the core network device 160 to use the control packet connection 1400c to transfer control packets In addition, a control packet connection 1402c is established between the virtual base station 1402 and the core network device 160 to use the control packet connection 1402c to transfer the control packet. In particular, the control packet connection 1400c and the control packet connection 1402c are two separate control packet connections for the core network device 160, so for the core network device 160, the virtual base station 1400 And 1402 will be two independent base stations.

According to the architecture of the network system 10, the control packet and the command packet sent by the user device 100_m will be transmitted to the small base station connected to it (in this case, the small base station 120_x), and the small base station 120_x will receive the received The control packet is transferred to the command aggregation device 140 via the control packet connection 130c_x, and the received data packet is transferred to the core network device 160 via the data packet connection 130d_x.

Since each small base station is directly connected to the command aggregation device 140, no matter how many virtual base stations are provided by the command aggregation device 140, for each small base station, only the command aggregation device 140 will be seen but not seen One of the virtual base stations. That is to say, the control packets transmitted from each small base station to the command aggregation device 140 are uniformly received by the command aggregation device 140, and then are assigned to a specific virtual base station in the command aggregation device 140. Taking the small base station 120_x as an example, in this embodiment, the small base station 120_x transmits the control packet to the command aggregation device 140 via the control packet connection 130c_x. For the small base station 120_x, the object of the control packet transfer is the command aggregation device 140 instead of the virtual base station 1400 or the virtual base station 1402. The command aggregation device 140 transfers the control packet received from the small base station 120_x to the virtual base station 1400 or the virtual base station 1402 according to the previously set rules, so that the virtual base station 1400 or the virtual base station 1402 will control the control packet. The content is transferred to the core network device 160 after necessary replacement.

In contrast, since each virtual base station is independently connected to the core network device 160, the virtual base station 1400 and the virtual base station 1402 are independent machines for the core network device 160. According to this, the core network device 160 will process the control packets received through the different control packet connection 1400c and the control packet connection 1402c by processing the connection of different base stations, and will also process the control packets The results are returned to the virtual base station 1400 and the virtual base station 1402 via the corresponding control packet connection 1400c and control packet connection 1402c, respectively. The virtual base station 1400 and the virtual base station 1402 will replace the content of the return packet received from the core network device 160 as necessary, and then pass the return packet after the content replacement to the command aggregation device 140 in the name of Corresponding small base station. Eventually, the small base station will decide how to handle subsequent operations based on the return packet received from the command aggregation device 140.

In summary, the command aggregation device 140 performs the necessary replacement of the content of the control packets (including the aforementioned return packets) transmitted therethrough, so that the core network device 160 is independent when facing the command aggregation device 140 Control packets are processed in the manner of each virtual base station 1400 and 1402; and each small base station only faces the command aggregation device 140 and does not need to face a larger number of virtual base stations.

Through the above-mentioned operation process, the entire network system 10 can operate smoothly and provide proper functions.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to more clearly understand the content of the present invention, the method of aggregating small base stations by the network system 10 described above will be explained in more detail below.

For clear description, please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 together, where FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for aggregating small base stations according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the connection between the command aggregation device 140, the small base stations 120_x and 120_y, and the core network device 160 and the command aggregation device 140, the small base station 120_x, and the small base station 120_y are initially performed. Initialization operation. It should be understood that these initialization operations (including steps S210-S222) only need to be performed when the network system 10 is established or the corresponding machine is restarted, rather than being performed before each network connection operation .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the command aggregation device 140 sets a corresponding virtual base station code for the virtual base station 1400 and the virtual base station 1402 (step S210 ), and then, the virtual base station 1400 and the virtual base station 1402 The corresponding network connection with the core network device 160 is established with the corresponding virtual base station code (step S212). Taking the virtual base station 1400 as an example, assuming that the virtual base station code given to the virtual base station 1400 by the command aggregation device 140 is VeNB 1, and the virtual base station code given to the virtual base station 1402 is VeNB 2, then the virtual base station 1400 is communicating with the core network When a control packet connection 1400c based on Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is established between the road devices 160, the virtual base station code VeNB 1 is transmitted to the core network device 160; based on the same Communication protocol, the core network device 160 records the virtual base station code VeNB 1 and returns the core network code representing the core network device 160 (assumed to be GUMMEI) to the virtual base station 1400; finally, the virtual base station 1400 The core network code GUMMEI will be recorded for subsequent use. After the above process, a control packet connection 1400c can be established between the virtual base station 1400 and the core network device 160 (in this embodiment, it is equivalent to the first core network connection mentioned later), and can be used. Control the packet connection 1400c to normally transmit network packets.

On the other hand, after completing the initialization of any base station in step S220, the completed base station must also establish a control packet connection between it and the command aggregation device 140 to transfer control packets, and connect it to the core network A data packet connection for transferring data packets is established between the devices 160. Taking the small base station 120_x as an example, after the initialization is completed, the small base station 120_x will have its own base station code (assuming it is HeNB 1, which in this embodiment is equivalent to the first base station code mentioned later) ; When the small base station 120_x wants to establish a SCTP-based connection with the command aggregation device 140, the small base station 120_x will put the base station code HeNB 1 in the control packet and pass the control packet to the command aggregation device 140 ; The command aggregation device 140 designates one of the virtual base stations to process this control packet. At this time, assuming that the command aggregation device 140 specifies the virtual base station 1400, the virtual base station 1400 will take over the control packet from the command aggregation device 140 and will The base station code HeNB 1 is recorded, and the previously recorded core network code GUMMEI is returned to the small base station 120_x instead of the virtual base station code VeNB 1; finally, the small base station 120_x records the core network code GUMMEI For subsequent use. In other words, the command aggregation device 140 uses the core network code GUMMEI to represent itself, and thus establishes a connection between the command aggregation device 140 and the small base station 120_x. Through the above process, the control packet connection 130c_x can be established between the command aggregation device 140 and the small base station 120_x, and the control packet connection 130c_x can be used to normally transmit network packets.

In addition to establishing a control packet connection 130c_x with the command aggregation device 140 to transfer control packets, a data packet connection 130d_x must be established between the small base station 120_x and the core network device 160 to transfer data packets. However, since the method of establishing the data packet connection 130d_x can be completed by using the existing technology, in order to make the description content concise and clear, no more description will be given here.

Furthermore, since the command aggregation device 140 in this embodiment provides two virtual base stations 1400 and 1402, in addition to the virtual base station 1400 can establish the control packet connection 1400c in the above manner, the virtual base station 1402 can also Establish the control packet connection 1402c according to the above method (which is equivalent to the second core network connection mentioned later in this embodiment); other small base stations (such as the small base station 120_y) can also follow the above method Establish a control packet connection (for example, the corresponding control packet connection 130c_y) and a data packet connection (for example, the corresponding data packet connection 130d_y). It should be noted that the control packet transmitted by each small base station may be assigned by the command aggregation device 140 to be processed by the virtual base station 1400, or may be assigned by the command aggregation device 140 to be processed by the virtual base station 1402. However, no matter which virtual base station the control packet is assigned to be processed, each small base station can establish a command packet connection with the command aggregation device 140 according to the above-mentioned method.

After completing the initialization of the network system 10 according to the above steps, all the small base stations including the small base stations 120_x and 120_y can start to process the network usage requirements of nearby user devices (for example, user device 100_m). Although the following uses only the user device 100_m as an example for description, those skilled in the art should understand that any user device within the number that the network system 10 can support can be created in the same manner as the network system 10 Connect.

When gradually approaching the small base station 120_x from a distance, the user device 100_m may start to try to use the small base station 120_x to enter the network system 10 (step S230). In order to enter the network system 10, the user device 100_m will first send a signal requesting access to the network system 10; when the small base station 120_x receives the signal from the user device 100_m requesting access to the network system 10, the small device The base station 120_x sends a corresponding connection activation control packet to the command aggregation device 140 via the control packet connection 130c_x (step S232). As shown in FIG. 3A, some contents of the connection start control packet generated according to the SCTP specification include: end user device code and server end user device code, in which the connection start control packet sent by the small base station 120_x The content in the column of the base station code is used to indicate the base station code HeNB 1 of the small base station 120_x, and the content in the column of the end user device code is the small base station 120_x is used to indicate the request Base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 1 of the connected user device 100_m (in this embodiment, which corresponds to the active user device mentioned later). Since the user device 100_m is connected to the network system 10 for the first time at this time, the content of the user device code of the server side is temporarily blank, and the core network code GUMMEI indicates that the processing device on the server side used is the core network路装置160。 Road device 160.

In the previous hypothetical situation, the command aggregation device 140 assigns the virtual base station 1400 to handle the connection activation control packet sent from the small base station 120_x regarding the user device 100_m connection request. After receiving the connection start control packet, the connection start control packet is transferred to the virtual base station 1400 for corresponding processing (step S234). When processing the connection activation control packet, the virtual base station 1400 replaces the content in the connection activation control packet (step S236). Referring to FIG. 4A, the virtual base station 1400 will replace the content of the base station code field in the connection start control packet from the originally filled base station code HeNB 1 to the filled virtual base station code VeNB 1; The content of the device code field is changed from the base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 1 originally filled in to the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 1 filled in. Similarly, since the user device 100_m is connected to the network system 10 for the first time at this time, the content of the user device code of the server side is temporarily blank, and the core network code GUMMEI indicates the processing of the server side used The device is a core network device 160.

After the content in the connection activation control packet is replaced in the above manner, the virtual base station 1400 passes the connection activation control packet with the changed content to the core network device 160 via the control packet connection 1400c (step S238). The core network device 160 processes the command represented in the received connection activation control packet, and after the processing is completed, returns the corresponding core response packet to the virtual base station 1400 via the control packet connection 1400c (step S240 ). As shown in FIG. 4B, in the core response packet, the contents of the field of filling in the base station code, the field of filling in the end user device code, and the field of filling in the core network code have not changed, but The core user device code MME UE S1AP 1 corresponding to the user device 100_m in the core network device 160 is newly added to the field for filling the server user device code.

After receiving the aforementioned core response packet, the virtual base station 1400 will appropriately replace the content of the core response packet (step S242). The content response core response packet is transferred to the base station 120_x as a connection start response packet for responding to the aforementioned connection start control packet (step S244). Please refer to FIG. 3B. In the content of the connection start response packet shown in FIG. 3B, the content of the field filled in the core network code has not changed, but the content of the field filled in the base station code is filled in from the original virtual base station The code VeNB 1 is replaced with the base station code HeNB 1, and the content of the end user device code field is changed from the original virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 1 to the base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 1, and The content of the field for filling in the server-side user device code is changed from the original filling in the core user device code MME UE S1AP 1 to the filling in the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 1.

Finally, after receiving the connection activation response packet, the base station 120_x can decide how to handle the connection request previously made by the user device 100_m according to the content in the connection activation response packet (step S246).

After the user device 100_m is connected to the network system 10, it is possible that, due to the movement of the user device 100_m, a small base station suitable for handling the network requirements of the user device 100_m changes from the small base station 120_x to the small base station 120_y. When this situation occurs, the network system 10 must perform a small base station switching operation.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a flowchart of operations performed when switching a small base station according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the vertical axis is the time flow and the horizontal axis is the logical relative position of each device in FIG. 1. In order for those skilled in the art to understand the execution process of the switching operation, the following description is still based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the user device 100_m is also used as an example to simulate the connection of the user device 100_m from the original to the small base The process of switching station 120_x to connect to small base station 120_y. Since the process of the switching operation has a certain degree of relationship with the process of establishing connections between the devices, and these processes of establishing the connection have been described in detail in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, for these establishments The connection process will not be described in detail, but will focus on the differences from Figure 2.

In this embodiment, first, when the user device 100_m is close enough to the small base station 120_y, or when the response strength of the small base station 120_y to the user device 100_m exceeds the response strength of the small base station 120_x, the user device 100_m will Try to establish a connection with the small base station 120_y (step S500). Before switching the user device 100_m to connect to the small base station 120_y, the small base station 120_y transmits a switching notification control packet to the command aggregation device 140 via the control packet connection 130c_y (step S502). The handover notification control packet indicates that the user device 100_m is about to switch to the small base station 120_y, and part of the content is shown in FIG. 6A.

As shown in FIG. 6A, in this embodiment, the field used for the switch notification control packet is basically similar to the field used for the aforementioned connection activation control packet (also based on SCTP). In detail, the content of the base station code field in the handover notification control packet is the base station code HeNB 2 representing the small base station 120_y, and the content of the end user device code field is the small base station 120_y The base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 2 used to represent the user device 100_m. The content filled in the server user device code field is the virtual user device code provided by the small base station 120_x in FIG. 3B GW UE S1AP 1, the core network code field is filled with the original core network code GUMMEI. The SCTP-based control packet does not record the small base station used after switching and before switching, so the command aggregation device 140 needs to know the small size after switching from the data filled in the field of the base station code in the switching control packet Base station (in this case, small base station 120_y), and the small base station before switching (in this case, small base station) from the data filled in the field of the server user device code in the switch control packet 120_x).

After step S502, the command aggregation device 140 receives the handover notification control packet sent from the small base station 120_y. Since the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 1 in the command aggregation device 140 originally corresponds to the base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 1 (as shown in the field filled in the end user device code field of FIG. 3B), In the handover notification control packet, corresponding to the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 1 and filled in the field of the end user device code is the base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 2, so the command aggregation device 140 can From this, it is determined that the user device 100_m is about to switch to the small base station 120_y specified by the content of the switching target field.

Since the previous command packet related to the user device 100_m is processed by the virtual base station 1400, when the user device 100_m starts to switch the connected small base station, the command aggregation device 140 will also process the user device correspondingly The operation of the 100_m related command is switched to any virtual base station other than the virtual base station 1400. Although only two virtual base stations 1400 and 1402 are provided in this embodiment, the command aggregation device 140 can only assign the virtual base station 1402 to handle the commands related to the user device 100_m, but if the command aggregation device The number of virtual base stations provided by 140 is more than three, you only need to select one virtual base station from the virtual base stations other than the virtual base station 1400 to take over the commands related to the user device 100_m, there is no need to limit Be sure to switch in a specific order.

When it is determined that the virtual base station 1402 will take over processing the commands related to the user device 100_m, the virtual base station 1402 will set a corresponding virtual user device code GW UE S1AP for the user device 100_m 2. Replace the previously received switching notification The content of the control packet is controlled, and the switching notification of the changed content is notified to the control packet via the control packet connection 1402c to the core network device 160 (step S504). As shown in FIG. 7A, the virtual base station 1402 replaces the field of filling in the base station code in the handover notification control packet from the originally filled base station code HeNB 2 to the virtual base station code VeNB 2; Fill in the field of the end user device code, and replace the original base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 2 with the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 2; and fill in the server notification user in the switch notification control packet The field of the device code is changed from the original filled in virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 1 to the filled in core user device code MME UE S1AP 1.

Next, the core network device 160 receives the aforementioned switching notification control packet from the virtual base station 1402, and after appropriate processing, returns a switching confirmation packet to the virtual base station 1402 (step S506). In this embodiment, the content of the switch confirmation packet mainly includes the fields shown in FIG. 7B. 7B, the switch confirmation packet mainly includes the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 2 filled in the end user device code field, the core network code GUMMEI filled in the core network code field, and The core user device code MME UE S1AP 2 (equivalent to the post-switching core user device code mentioned later) is filled in the field of the server user device code after the switch.

The aforementioned handover confirmation packet will be delivered to the virtual base station 1402, and the virtual base station 1402 will correspondingly replace the content of the handover confirmation packet with the content shown in FIG. 6B. Referring to FIG. 6B, the field for filling in the end user device code in the switch confirmation packet will be replaced from the original filled virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 2 to the base station user device code eNB UE S1AP 2; the switch confirmation packet The content of the field filled with the core network code remains unchanged; the content of the field filled with the server user device code after the switch in the switch confirmation packet will be replaced from the core user device code MME UE S1AP 2 originally filled in Fill in the virtual user device code GW UE S1AP 2.

After the content replacement described above, the command aggregation device 140 transmits the switching confirmation packet of the changed content to the small base station 120_y (step S508), and the small base station 120_y communicates with the content of the received switching confirmation packet. The user device 100_m interacts (step S510).

From another perspective, before transferring the control packet from the virtual base station to the core network device, the virtual base station will replace the content of the control packet that was originally related to the small base station with the content related to the corresponding virtual base station. Then, the control packet with the changed content is transferred to the core network device; in contrast, before the virtual base station transfers the control packet to the small base station, the virtual base station will control the packet (such as the aforementioned core response packet) with the virtual The content related to the base station is replaced with the content related to the corresponding small base station.

From another perspective, the control packets related to the user device can be divided into three parts. One is the aforementioned handover notification control packet used to indicate that the user device is about to switch to a different small base station; The second is the control packet related to the user device before the switch notification control packet and when it is connected to the same small base station, and it is called the pre-switch control packet after this; the third is the switch notification control packet After that, when connected to the same small base station, the control packet related to the user device is hereinafter referred to as the post-handover control packet. It can be seen from the foregoing technical description that the virtual base station used to process and deliver the processed pre-handover control packet is different from the virtual base station used to process and deliver the processed post-switching control packet.

Through the above operation process, the user device 100_m can easily switch between different small base stations. As the user device 100_m switches to another small base station, the virtual base station responsible for communicating with the core network device 160 also switches. For the core network device 160, such network operation conforms to the content of the existing communication protocol (such as the aforementioned SCTP), so the network system 10 can operate normally.

According to the above technology, the method for aggregating small base stations provided in the embodiments of the present invention also switches the virtual base station provided by the command aggregation device when the user device remains connected and switches the connected base station . If switching the connected base station is not through the switching command (for example: disconnect the line before reconnecting to another base station), then only need to follow the Figure 2, Figure 3A, Figure 3 when switching the connected base station 3B, the method shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be performed, and it is not necessary to switch the virtual base station. Furthermore, during the process of forwarding the packet to the base station or core network device by the virtual base station, the contents of the packet will be converted appropriately. In this way, the method for aggregating small base stations provided in this description can provide a complete and effective communication method between network elements, thereby enabling cooperation between network elements to proceed normally.

10: Network system 100_m: user device 110c_mx, 130c_x, 130c_y, 1400c, 1402c: control packet connection 110d_mx, 130d_x, 130d_y: data packet connection 120_x, 120_y: small base station 140: command aggregation device 1400, 1402: Virtual base station 160: core network devices S210-S246: execution steps of an embodiment of the invention S500-S510: execution steps of an embodiment of the invention

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network system using a small base station according to an embodiment of the invention. 2 is a flowchart of a method for aggregating small base stations according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3A is a form of partial contents of an SCTP-based connection start control packet according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a form of partial content of an SCTP-based connection start response packet according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a form of partial content of an SCTP-based connection start control packet according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4B is a form of partial content of a core response packet based on SCTP according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations performed when switching a small base station according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a table of partial contents of a handover notification control packet transmitted from a small base station to a command aggregation device based on SCTP according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6B is a table of partial contents of a handover confirmation packet transmitted from a command aggregation device to a small base station based on SCTP according to an embodiment of the present invention. 7A is a table of partial contents of a handover notification control packet transmitted from a command aggregation device to a core network device based on SCTP according to an embodiment of the present invention. 7B is a form of partial contents of a handover confirmation packet transmitted from a core network device to a command aggregation device based on SCTP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

S210~S246: implementation steps of an embodiment of the invention

Claims (20)

A method for aggregating small base stations, applicable to a transmission network composed of more than one user device, more than two small base stations, a command aggregation device, and a core network device; transmitted to the two The multiple control packets between the above small base station and the core network device are mediated by the command aggregation device, and data packets passed between the two or more small base stations and the core network device do not pass through The command aggregation device; the command aggregation device provides more than two virtual base stations; the method is characterized by including: when one of the control packets is switched to notify the control packet that an active user device is connecting the switch to When different ones of the two or more small base stations, a post-switch control packet with the control packets in the middle of the handover notification control packet and a handover with the control packets in the control packet before the handover notification control packet The pre-control packet uses a different one of the two or more virtual base stations as a transmission medium, wherein each of the two or more virtual base stations is independently connected to the core network device to enable the core network device to process Different base station connections are used to handle each of the two or more virtual base station connections. The method according to item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the two or more virtual base stations include a first virtual base station and a second virtual base station, and the control packets include a continuous first control packet, A second control packet and a third control packet, when the second control packet indicates that the active user device will switch to a different one of the two or more small base stations, the first control packet passes through the The first virtual base station transmits the third control packet through the second virtual base station, or the first control packet passes the second virtual base station and the third control packet passes the first virtual base station. The method according to item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the two or more virtual base stations include a first virtual base station and a second virtual base station, and operations performed by the command aggregation device include: The virtual base station sets a first virtual base station code, and then represents the first virtual base station with the first virtual base station code and accordingly establishes a first between the first virtual base station and the core network device Core network connection; set a second virtual base station code for the second virtual base station, and then use the second virtual base station code to represent the second virtual base station code and according to the second virtual base station and the Establishing a second core network connection between the core network devices; obtaining a core network code representing the core network device; and a first small base station and the command among the two or more small base stations When the aggregation device establishes a connection, the core network code represents the command aggregation device, and a connection is established between the command aggregation device and the first small base station. The method according to item 3 of the patent application scope, wherein when the first small base station in the two or more small base stations establishes a connection with the command aggregation device, the core network code represents the command aggregation A device, the step of establishing a connection between the command aggregation device and the first small base station, including: causing a connection activation control packet received by the command aggregation device from the first small base station includes: indicating that the first small A first base station code of the base station and a first base station user device code of the first small base station used to represent the active user device; and cause the command aggregation device to respond to the connection start control packet The first small base station transmits a connection activation response packet, wherein the connection activation response packet includes: the base station user device code and a virtual user device code used by the command aggregation device to represent the active user device. The method according to item 4 of the patent application scope, wherein, before the command aggregation device transmits the connection start response packet to the first small base station in response to the connection start control packet, the method further includes: replacing the connection start The contents of the control packet include: replacing the content originally filled in the code of the first base station with the code of the first virtual base station; and replacing the content originally filled in the code of the user device of the base station with the virtual User device code; the first virtual base station transmits the connection activation control packet after the replacement content to the core network device; the core network device responds to the command activation after the replacement content transmitted by the command aggregation device Generating a core response packet by controlling the packet, wherein the core response packet includes a core user device code and the virtual user device code corresponding to the active user device; and the command aggregation device receives the core response packet, and then Modifying the core response packet to the connection activation response packet, where modifying the core response packet to the connection activation response packet includes: replacing the content at the virtual user device code filled in the core response packet with the The base station user device code; and replacing the content at the core user device code filled in the core response packet with the virtual user device code. The method according to item 5 of the patent application scope, wherein, when the pre-handover control packet is delivered through the first virtual base station, the handover notification control packet is delivered through the second virtual base station instead; wherein , The handover notification control packet is transferred from a second small base station among the two or more small base stations to the command aggregation device, and the handover notification packet includes: the base station user device code, indicating the second small A second base station code of the base station and the virtual user device code. The method as described in item 6 of the patent application scope, wherein when the pre-handover control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station, the step of transmitting the handover notification control packet through the second virtual base station instead Including: after the instruction aggregation device receives the handover notification control packet, replacing the received content of the handover notification control packet includes: filling the content of the virtual user device code in the handover notification control packet Replace with the core user device code; replace the content in the handover notification control package that originally filled the base station user device code with the virtual user device code; and fill the handover notification control package with the original The content at the second base station code is replaced with the second virtual base station code; and the handover notification control packet with the changed content is transferred to the core network device through the second virtual base station. The method as described in item 7 of the patent application scope further includes: the core network device receives the switching notification control packet of the changed content, and correspondingly returns a switching confirmation packet, the switching confirmation packet includes the virtual user device Code and a core user device code after switching; the command aggregation device receives the switching confirmation packet from the core network device; replacing the content of the switching confirmation packet, including: originally filling the virtual user device in the switching confirmation packet The content at the code is replaced with the code for the user device of the base station; and the content at the core user device code in the handover confirmation packet originally filled with the handover is replaced with the code for the virtual user device after a handover; and the replacement The handover confirmation packet after the content is delivered to the second small base station. A method for aggregating small base stations, applicable to a transmission network composed of more than one user device, more than two small base stations, a command aggregation device, and a core network device; transmitted to the two The multiple control packets between the above small base station and the core network device are mediated by the command aggregation device, and data packets passed between the two or more small base stations and the core network device do not pass through The command aggregation device; the command aggregation device provides more than two virtual base stations; the method is characterized by including: each of the two or more virtual base stations is independently connected to the core network device; when one is activated When the medium user device is connected to any one of the two or more small base stations, the control packets are transmitted by one of the two or more virtual base stations; and when the active user device is connected from the original When the small base station switches to one of the two or more small base stations that is different from the originally connected small base station, the control is transferred from the two or more virtual base stations to the original one One of the different virtual base stations of the packet transmits the control packets; wherein, the two or more virtual base stations will be in the control packets first and the two or more small base stations before changing the content The related content is replaced with corresponding content related to the two or more virtual base stations; the control packets with the replaced content are then delivered to the core network device. The method according to item 9 of the patent application scope, wherein the two or more virtual base stations include a first virtual base station and a second virtual base station, and operations performed by the command aggregation device include: The virtual base station sets a first virtual base station code, and then represents the first virtual base station with the first virtual base station code and accordingly establishes a first between the first virtual base station and the core network device Core network connection; set a second virtual base station code for the second virtual base station, and then use the second virtual base station code to represent the second virtual base station code and according to the second virtual base station and the Establishing a second core network connection between the core network devices; obtaining a core network code representing the core network device; and a first small base station and the command among the two or more small base stations When the aggregation device establishes a connection, the core network code represents the command aggregation device, and a connection is established between the command aggregation device and the first small base station. The method according to item 10 of the patent application scope, wherein when the first small base station in the two or more small base stations establishes a connection with the command aggregation device, the core network code represents the command aggregation A device, the step of establishing a connection between the command aggregation device and the first small base station, including: causing a connection activation control packet received by the command aggregation device from the first small base station includes: indicating that the first small A first base station code of the base station and a first base station user device code of the first small base station used to represent the active user device; and cause the command aggregation device to respond to the connection start control packet The first small base station transmits a connection activation response packet, wherein the connection activation response packet includes: the base station user device code and a virtual user device code used by the command aggregation device to represent the active user device. The method according to item 11 of the patent application scope, wherein before causing the command aggregation device to transmit the connection activation response packet to the first small base station in response to the connection activation control packet, the method further includes: replacing the connection activation The contents of the control packet include: replacing the content originally filled in the code of the first base station with the code of the first virtual base station; and replacing the content originally filled in the code of the user device of the base station with the virtual User device code; the first virtual base station transmits the connection activation control packet after the replacement content to the core network device; the core network device responds to the command activation after the replacement content transmitted by the command aggregation device Generating a core response packet by controlling the packet, wherein the core response packet includes a core user device code and the virtual user device code corresponding to the active user device; and the command aggregation device receives the core response packet, and then Modifying the core response packet to the connection activation response packet, where modifying the core response packet to the connection activation response packet includes: replacing the content in the core response packet that was originally filled in the code of the virtual user device with The base station user device code; and replacing the content in the core response packet where the core user device code was originally filled with the virtual user device code. The method according to item 12 of the patent application scope, wherein, when the pre-handover control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station, the handover notification control packet is transmitted through the second virtual base station instead; wherein , The handover notification control packet is transferred from a second small base station among the two or more small base stations to the command aggregation device, and the handover notification packet includes: the base station user device code, indicating the second small A second base station code of the base station and the virtual user device code. The method as described in item 13 of the patent application scope, wherein when the pre-handover control packet is transmitted through the first virtual base station, the step of transmitting the handover notification control packet through the second virtual base station instead Including: after the instruction aggregation device receives the handover notification control packet, replacing the received content of the handover notification control packet includes: filling the content of the virtual user device code in the handover notification control packet Replace with the core user device code; replace the content in the handover notification control package that originally filled the base station user device code with the virtual user device code; and fill the handover notification control package with the original The content at the second base station code is replaced with the second virtual base station code; and the handover notification control packet with the changed content is transferred to the core network device through the second virtual base station. The method as described in item 14 of the patent application scope further includes: the core network device receives the switching notification control packet of the changed content, and correspondingly returns a switching confirmation packet, the switching confirmation packet includes the virtual user device Code and a core user device code after switching; the command aggregation device receives the switching confirmation packet from the core network device; replacing the content of the switching confirmation packet, including: originally filling the virtual user device in the switching confirmation packet The content at the code is replaced with the code for the user device of the base station; and the content at the core user device code in the handover confirmation packet originally filled with the handover is replaced with the code for the virtual user device after a handover; and the replacement The handover confirmation packet after the content is delivered to the second small base station. The method as described in item 9 of the patent application scope, wherein the content related to the two or more small base stations in the control packets and before the content is replaced with the corresponding virtual Base station-related content, including: When the control packets include a base station code to indicate the two or more small base stations before replacing the content, replace the content that originally filled in the base station code with the filled-in representation A virtual base station code of the two or more virtual base stations; and when the control packets include the two or more small base stations before changing the content to represent a base station user device of the active user device When the code is used, the content originally filled in the code of the base station user device is replaced with a virtual user device code filled in by the command aggregation device to represent the active user device. The method as described in item 9 of the patent application scope further includes: causing the command aggregation device to transmit a response packet to the two or more small base stations in response to the control packets. The method as described in item 17 of the patent application scope further includes: obtaining the response packet by replacing the content of a core response packet received by the command aggregation device from the core network device. The method of claim 18, wherein the response packet is obtained by replacing the content of the core response packet received by the command aggregation device from the core network device, including: to be included in the core response packet The content related to the two or more virtual base stations is replaced with corresponding content related to the two or more small base stations; and the content related to the core network device in the core response packet is replaced by Corresponding content related to the two or more virtual base stations. The method of claim 19, wherein the core response packet includes a core user device code corresponding to the active user device in the core network device, and the command aggregation device is used to Indicates a virtual user device code of the active user device; wherein, the content of the virtual user device code that was originally filled in the core response packet before replacing the content is replaced with the corresponding base station user device The code; and the content in the core user device code where the core user device code was originally filled in the core response packet before the content was replaced, and was replaced with the corresponding virtual user device code.

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